Northern Lights
by konamiXkatya23
Summary: Lucy goes to a skiing resort called Fairy Tail for her winter vacation. She doesn't know what to expect, but when she meets a rosy-haired, snowboard-loving boy, her vacation takes a turn for the better. Or does it?
1. Chapter 1

konamiXkatya23: Hello everyone! I've had a really long writer's block… and then, I thought of this. Please enjoy my crappy first chapter of this story! Don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters! I only own my plot and story!

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><p><strong>Northern Lights<strong>

**Chapter one**

**The Resort  
><strong>  
>The train made its way through the dark. It was a cold, starless, and gloomy evening. A strong wind picked up, and snow blew in the direction of the train. Beautiful designs of frost covered every window. The light from the inside was so warm and inviting, that anyone, no... Anything would rather be in there, than freezing outside like a wild animal.<p>

A blonde girl peered out of the first-class cabin. For some time she watched the light cast shadows in the dark. The girl saw small snow-covered bushes flicker by. Then, she got tired.

The girl leaned back, and plugged her headphones into her player. She closed her eyes and imagined what lies ahead of her.

POV Lucy

Only thirty minutes left. After that, I get off the train, and find the nice old man, who's been waiting to pick me up.

Why? Why am I here? It's not because of my dad's stupid business plan, or his headstrong attitude. Not because I wanted to get away from it all... Or was it?

That's right... It was my own choice to come here; I decided that spending winter vacation away from him could be best for me.

But... I don't feel like I'm strong enough. I need some support, someone to help me make it out alive, someone's shoulder to cry on... Why did my father approve my decision so quickly? Why did he send me away in an instant, without even saying goodbye?

Not that I cared.

Not that it mattered.

End POV

The train pulled up to the station and Lucy quickly jolted awake. She was excited, but also sick with anxiety. Her suitcase was pretty big, but it's better safe than sorry. She didn't know what to expect in northern Alaska.

It was a good thing that the train station was indoors; otherwise she'd freeze to death in seconds. Her light coat offered little protection from the wind and snow. It never snowed where she lived, and the temperature during winter rarely went below freezing.

An old man stood close to the entrance. His clothes were very warm; however his cheeks were still slightly frostbitten. He wasn't smiling and his face was rough, however his eyes were kind and that warmed Lucy's heart.

"Oh," he exhaled. "I was worried that you've gotten lost. You're Lucy Heartfilia, right?"

"Yes," Lucy mumbled out, surprised by the man's direct approach. "And you're Makarov. You're going to take me to the Fairy Tail Resort," she grinned.

"Yes ma'am," the man chuckled. He scooped up Lucy's suitcase and was about to walk out of the station, when he looked Lucy over.

The blonde was dressed in skinny jeans, with a warm sweater and a brown jacket. The only thing that pleased him was the wool socks on her feet and the warm winter boots, covering her legs half-way up her shins.

"Sweets, let me tell you this... You'll need to buy something warmer from our store. At night, the temperature can fall down to -30'C. We've had some serious cases of frostbite here..." the man handed his small coat to the girl as he quickly ran outside and started his truck.

Lucy shrugged. Her credit card felt very valuable in her purse after all the trouble she went through to get it.

After riding for some time down a bumpy road, the resort came into view. Makarov quickly explained everything to Lucy. The main building was the hotel and the lobby for all of the short-time visitors. To the right, there was a dorm for the girls, and to the left there was the boys' dorm. The dining hall was placed in a large tall building, as well as the infirmary, the pool, some shops, and the director's office.

The rules were simple: stay out of trouble and lights out by 12 a.m.

"Thanks Makarov, I really appreciate it," Lucy smiled as the man pulled up to the girls' dorm.

"No big," he shrugged. "Your director's name is Mirajane. She'll be waiting for you inside."

Lucy grabbed her baggage and sprinted towards the entrance. Her stomach was full of butterflies. She was finally here!

The main room was huge. Large wooden tables stood by the side, while a fire crackled in the large fireplace by two big recliners. The inside of the dorm was made from wood, but you could clearly see that there was nothing shaggy and old about it.

A girl with loose silver hair sat at one of the tables.

"Hello!" she called out. The tall girl stood up and walked towards Lucy. She left the cup of hot chocolate she's been drinking on the table.

"Welcome to our resort! We're so glad to have you! I'm sorry, but it's really late today, so I'll just show you to your room. There'll be a handbook in there for you, as well as some welcoming treats!" the silver haired girl said while leading Lucy to the elevator.

"This is too sudden! I feel like I'm getting rushed" the blonde thought in confusion. The director, Mirajane looked like she was in a hurry.

After a few minutes, Lucy entered her room. A short blue haired girl greeted her, as the director quickly sprinted off somewhere else.

"Hello! My name is Levi. I guess we're going to be roommates from now on! I'm really excited! Please make yourself at home!" the girl squealed.

"Oh... That sounds great... I'm sorry; I'm very tired today... I don't have any energy at all... I've been running around too much today..." Lucy complained, without caring about what Levi would think of her.

"Coming here must be tough. I heard that you came from some southern part of the USA... Here, I'll help you unpack, and you can go right to bed," Levy offered. The blond girl smiled in agreement.

For the next hour, the two girls stuffed Lucy's clothes into cabinets, Levy moved her clothes to one side of the shelf, so Lucy could have the other, and they talked. The blonde got to know her roommate. Levy was a kind, smart girl who did mountain skiing at the resort.

The blue haired girl also loved books. She loved everything about them: reading them, writing them, discussing them, writing reviews-Lucy could relate to a lot of these things. Levy's eyes shone when she talked about her hobby.

When they were done, the blonde quickly changed and collapsed into her bed. She was half-asleep when somebody burst into the room. Although Lucy didn't understand what was going on, after exchanging a few words with Levy, and after the blue haired girl shook her head sleepily, the loud scarlet haired girl quietly closed the door and walked away. There was a scuffle downstairs, but all that Lucy understood from what the scarlet haired girl said was "lights" and "today". Without letting it bother her, she drifted off to sleep.

The next day she woke up at ten when Levy's alarm clock went off. As they walked down the stairs, Lucy spotted a couple of trophies on display. Most of them were for first or second place for snowboarding and had the name Natsu or Erza on them. A few were for skiing and ice hockey.

"Strange names," the blonde thought as she skipped down the stairs. Levy let her friend borrow her extra coat so they could walk to the dining hall in pjs and coats.

The soft snow crunched under their feet. It was a clear winter morning, and the temperature was barely below freezing, but just enough to keep the snow from melting.

The girls threw snowballs at each other as they walked towards the big building. As soon as they came closer, a delicious smell filled their noses.

Pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, and bacon were served for breakfast that day. Lucy filled her plate in the buffet and sat down next to the blue haired girl. More people gathered at this table, and Lucy saw the gorgeous red-haired girl again. All of the girls talked amongst themselves, and Lucy felt bored and out of place.

Suddenly, a bunch of boys sprinted through the entrance. They greeted the girls and ran towards the buffet. They filled their plates to the top, and sat down at the tables. A guy with a strange tattoo over his eye came up to the red-haired girl and kissed her on the forehead. One rosy haired boy strode towards Lucy's table.

"So you're the new girl everyone's talking about?" he quickly asked her while munching on a strip of bacon.

"Yeah. I guess so," Lucy replied, unsure of how to react.

"Have you chosen your activity yet?" the boy asked her again.

"No..." Lucy mumbled. "I'm thinking of doing mountain skiing or ice skating. But I'm not really sure yet..."

The boy thought something over for a second, and then he looked at Lucy. He leaned closer, and his dark eyes shone with fiery excitement.

"Have you considered snowboarding?"

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><p>konamiXkatya23: And that's the first chapter. I'm really grateful to any of you who've taken their time to read this story! Please review! I swear that this story will get better and more exciting!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

konamiXkatya23: And here's chapter 2! I won't be posting the next chapter for a while because I'm going skiing (and snowboarding) for a week in the Alps, but I'll try writing something there! Enjoy and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or the song "Violet Hill" by Coldplay.

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><p><strong>Chapter two<strong>

**Violet Hill**

It was a late December morning. The biggest mountain next to the resort was full of visitors. People gathered in mobs near the ski lifts and it was almost impossible to get through the fray. The summit of the mountain shone brilliantly on the blue sky.

A week has passed since Lucy has arrived at the resort. She made many new friends and was now well prepared for the rest of her month in Fairy Tail.

"Hey! Wait up!" Lucy called after Natsu as she ran across the parking lot, holding her bulky snowboard.

"I can't help the fact that you're so slow," Natsu complained.

The blonde got to know this boy over the past week. He was very strange, his mood changed very quickly, but most of the time he was very joyful and funny. And extremely annoying...

Lucy winced as she brought up the rear. The blond girl wasn't used to carrying her snowboard around; her gloves were getting shredded by its sharp edges.

Natsu and Lucy took the gondola to the summit. The sight from the top was breathtaking, just like one of those backgrounds photos for your computer. The first time the girl came here, she couldn't take her eyes off the horizon.

The blonde grinned as she strapped on her snowboard at the beginning of the slope.

"You ready?" Natsu stood in front of Lucy.

"Oh yeah," the girl said, shocked by the rosy-haired boy's sudden appearance. At first, he was crawling somewhere behind you, still complaining about the gondola, and how he'd never go on it again.

For some reason, the boy was never cold, but Makarov made him wear a coat in the evenings. Right now, he wore snow-pants and a black T-shirt. However, his face still looked a little green from that gondola ride...

"Follow me," the boy called out. He gently snowboarded down the slope, making an easy trail for Lucy to follow.

The girl slowly turned and had to balance herself out now and then, because falling with the snowboard attached to your feet wasn't such a pleasant experience.

"Right, left... Right... Left..." the blonde was so caught up on doing the turns perfectly, that she didn't notice Natsu standing only a couple of yards in front of her.

"Hey Luce! Whoa-" he gasped as the girl ran right into him.

"Ack! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" Lucy mumbled as she brushed the snow from her face.

"A whole slope full of people and you choose me to run into? Maybe you're so in love with me that you can't help it~," the boy teased as he went farther down the hill.

"Dumb idiot!" Lucy gritted through her teeth as she got up.

Practice (or so Natsu called it) ended at 5 p.m.  
>Lucy finally learned how to turn correctly. Natsu coached her the entire day, and she was exhausted and bruised all over, but somehow, she was still full of energy. The girl watched the sunset as she lay on the snow.<p>

"Shouldn't we head back for dinne-" she started, but noticed that her rosy-haired friend was missing. She stood up and looked around, only to find him vanish behind some trees.

"What the...? What's he up to?" she said to herself as she took off her board and followed Natsu's trail.

The woods were dark and snowy, because of all the snow they had last night. Lucy realized that Natsu wasn't walking; he was snowboarding between the trees, carefully dodging each and every trunk. Suddenly, the girl noticed that it was sunny up ahead. She started jogging towards the light, so she wouldn't loose the boy's trail.

There was a small, snowy clearing. The sun beamed off the snow like millions of diamonds. The girl stood in awe.

Natsu sat on top of a small hill. The sunset gave it a shade of deep purple, almost violet. The blonde made her way up the small hill, the snow crunching under her feet. Natsu turned around.

"Hack! Luce! What are you doing here?" he jumped.

"I just followed you, I thought that it was time to go-" she cut herself off for the second time this evening.

It was probably the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. The sun dyed the land with golden sunshine. Mountains, hills, and valleys were all layered out in front of her. Although Lucy was sure that they were at the base of the mountain, she was dead wrong. A giant rocky drop, an abyss, was right in front of her. The altitude made her dizzy; she had to sit down.

"What's this place?" she asked in wonder.

"I used to play here when I was little. I used to play here with my dad. And one day, he's just, poof! You know... Gone!" Natsu sighed. "

"I'm sorry."

"Then Makarov invited me to Fairy Tail. You could say that I live here... It's kinda fun, I guess. And last year I found this place again. I watch the sunset every time, just like I did with my dad. You know it's great, all those colors in the sky..." his voice trailed off.

They sat in silence for a while, and Lucy knew that they didn't need to say a word.

"This is all violet," she replied. "I guess the sunset just gives it that shade..."

Natsu stared at the valley as Lucy continued talking.

"Do you know a song called Violet Hill?" she asked.

"Nope... Never heard of it..." the rosy-haired boy replied. Lucy could feel the tension lifting.

"Well it's funny, but it goes something like this:  
>Was a long and dark December,<br>From the rooftops I remember,  
>There was snow...<br>White snow..." the blonde sang in a quiet voice.

"You're terrible at singing," the boy commented.

"Hey!" she yelled as she threw some snow in his face. "I didn't even write this song or anything..."

"Hah... You're Lucy after all..." he replied while standing up. "We should get back... Makarov and Mira would murder us."

Lucy stood up with a smile on her face. They walked a few steps and Natsu picked up his snowboard. Then the boy stopped.

"You know you can come any time. To... Ugh... Violet hill. You know what I mean," he choked out.

"Thanks," Lucy smiled kindly as she and Natsu started making their way up the trail.

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><p>konamiXkatya23: Just to let you guys know, this going to be the cheesiest chapter out of all of them. If you don't like too much drama, stay tuned! The next chapter will be different, filled with action and more characters (yay!)! P. S. I know that Natsu was a bit out of character here. Don't worry; I'll get him back on track in the next chapter!<p>

Thanks for reading the second chapter of my story! Don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

**konamiXkatya23**: Yeah, I'm back from my trip and my long writer's block.  
>Actually, I could just say that I was too lazy to do anything... Just sorta loitered the entire time. And now I'm struggling to catch up with my schoolwork...<br>Now, about this chapter... I may have made some of the characters a bit too... Out of character... You've been warned!  
>Anyway, enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!<p>

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters! I only own my story and plot!

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><p><strong>Chapter three<strong>

**The Calm Before the Storm**

The two stumbled into the large hall. For a second, they stood dazed, blinded by the bright lights. The clattering of plates and loud talking could be heard from the cafeteria.

They threw their coats on the leather couch which stood close to the door and quickly ran into the dining hall. A half-eaten tomato whizzed by Lucy's head as she opened the large wooden doors. She took cover and quickly crawled towards the buffet.

Someone flew right over her shoulder, landing right in the fruits section. The man jumped up and yelled, "Lucy! Stop hiding under that table! Get up and fight like a real ma-" But he was quickly cut off by Loki, who smashed a plate against this man's head. Elfman stood still for a second and soon fell on the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Are you alright, love?" Loki asked the girl in a romantic tone. An enchanting aura was almost visible around Loki.

"What's with all of these sparkling flowers around you?" Lucy commented as she dodged a glassful of juice. The boy opened his mouth to answer, but noticed that the girl has disappeared.

'I have to make it to the food!' the blonde thought as she escaped from Loki's strange, sparkly eyes. She crawled on the ground like a cat, carefully avoiding any broken glass or puddles of strange liquids.

As the girl reached the counter, she jumped up and quickly grabbed two chicken wings and ducked as two more came flying at her face. The man who threw them grinned, but he was tackled to the ground. For a second, Lucy caught a glimpse of rosy hair and a scaly scarf, but they also disappeared in the fray. Lucy crawled under a table and ate her food quietly. She could see that some people, like her roommate, were also taking shelter under the tables. She waved the chicken wing in the air and grinned. Soon, when Levi noticed her, she smiled back and crawled in her direction.

Lucy POV

I can't believe that these guys would rather chuck the food around rather than eat it. After quiet, awkward dinners with my father, or rather, dinners without him at all, this was really hard to get used to...

End POV

The first dinner she had here started off alright, but then one of these airheads decided to bring in some ale, and after Makarov was completely drunk, so was the whole resort. She woke up the next morning with a pounding head, only to find herself sleeping on Natsu, and to find the other half of the cafeteria free of people, because they were already practicing on the slope.

Of course the rosy haired boy helped her drag her lazy butt over to the dorm, but all she could do was collapse in bed.

The noises still continued as Lucy drowsily leaned against her blue-haired friend's back. Erza was on a rampage over there! Her silver snow pants flashed all over the place as people were thrown and their faces were pounded into the wall. Natsu was no exception.

The red head and Natsu could fight for hours on the slope, tripping and throwing snow at each other... But suddenly they stopped, and the noise quieted down. Lucy opened her eyes in alert.

Makarov, who was probably in a bad mood, stalked into the room. A deadly aura hung over him, creating the illusion of a demon, ready to burn down a friendly village.

"Ahem!" he cleared his throat as he climbed onto a table. "Listen up, everyone! Stop your fighting and pay attention for a minute!"

Confused eyes stared at the director, "It's that time of the year again! We're hosting the annual sporting event here, at our resort!" the man's eyes searched through the crowd, making sure that everyone was listening. "This year everyone has to participate! I ha-"

The dining hall was first full of groans and complaints, but these were soon drowned out by the cheering and the joyful yelling.

Makarov lifted a huge jug of lemonade and chucked it against an empty metal pot. The sound rang out through the hall, quieting everyone at once.

"As I was saying, this year, everyone's participating! We will not be sending only our best sportsmen out there! Everyone will have to try their hardest! I have already pasted a sign-up sheet for every race that's gonna be in the event! Please sign up today!" Lucy glanced around the room in search of Natsu and her eyes only met some very concerned and worried faces.

"However! This doesn't mean that we're going to embarrass the name of our resort! This means that the year to kick their butts has come!"

The hall erupted with cheering. Everyone was yelling, crying, laughing, and whistling. Lucy cheered with the rest of the members.

And most importantly, they were ready to win!

~Later~

The hall has cleared out and everyone was walking back to their dorms. There was no time to waste! They had to sign up for the thing they were best at! For some reason all of this was organized in the girls' dorm... The clump of people rushed into the building.

Lucy searched through the crowd. For a second, she saw Natsu who was still punching Gray for some reason. She grabbed his scarf and pulled him out of the black-haired boy's reach.

"Hey Natsu!" she yelled at him over the noise. "What am I supposed to sign up for?"

"Urgh... Lucy, how am I supposed to know?" the boy's eyes darted back to Gray's swaying figure.

"Natsu!"

"What?"

"Answer me!"

"Try carving. Maybe you could practice it tomorrow with Mirajane..." the boy gave half-hearted reply.

"So what are you signing up for?"

"Freestyling", he muttered, his mind still somewhere else. His face gave off that 'I-don't-care' vibe.

Lucy really hoped that she would stay with Natsu. Of course, he was doing something else! This made the girl snap back to reality. What made her believe that the boy would stay by her side? He has his own business to take care of. After all, she's been friends with him for only a couple of weeks... Even his strange breakdown during the sunset didn't matter anymore.

Lucy released his scarf and walked away. She trotted through the crowd, and quickly signed up for carving, happy to get away from the noisy assembly. She used a simple excuse to leave the main hall for her room.

The blonde lay on her bed, thinking about this competition. She has realized that she's still pretty new here, no one would realize her strange mood or the fact that she has left. And Natsu. Right now, she couldn't help thinking about him. Or the way he laughed, or the way he teased Lucy when she fell. She though, that of all people she could talk to Natsu the best. Now, she felt stupid for overreacting and stupid for believing that there was something... Anything at all...

"Stupid", she muttered to herself as she crawled into bed.

She must have slept for a few hours, but she woke up from a bright light shining into her room. Levi and Natsu stood in the doorway.

"You coming?" Levi asked.

"To look for the northern lights? Nah..." she answered her own question.

They did this every night. Apparently, sometimes, they saw something in the sky, shining and lighting up the night. The last time they saw something, it was the day Lucy arrived.

Their efforts to find more northern lights were worthless. The girl sighed and turned away from the light.

"You ok, Lucy?" a concerned voice asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely, just tired. Go away..."

"Well if you change your mind, catch up to us!" the door closed behind the girl's back.

The blonde rolled over once again and thought about how rude she was to Levi. She muttered something about depression and bad days and closed her eyes. Only then, she realized that she was not alone.

A figure stood in the corner of the room, waiting for something. "Hey..." a boy's voice replied when he noticed Lucy's piercing glare.

"Natsu! I was ready to punch you!"

"Sorry, Luce."

"Did you not go with Levi? I thought you left!" she continued as her heart sped up.

"No. I'm sorry. They went ahead. I'm worried. You looked really horrible tonight. If it was all of because of that crap I told you at sunset..."

"No, no it was just me. I'm worn out."

"I'll go grab you a bite to eat then!" he exclaimed with a grin and almost ran off.

"Wait! You idiot! What would everyone think if they caught you sneaking inside the girl's dorm late at night?" Lucy blushed.

"That I'm really hungry?" he answered, clueless.

Lucy banged her head against the wall. Natsu stood in the doorway, still wondering about what she had meant. "Oh..." his mouth gaped open. He started tip-toeing his way out of the room.

The freezing wind blew outside making moaning sounds by the windows. The trees creaked from the cold, their shadows dancing on the diamond snow. The moon shone brightly, barely illuminating the girl's figure as she lay in bed.

"Stay here", Lucy whispered and turned away, blushing.

The boy entered the room and locked the door.

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><p><strong>konamiXkatya23<strong>: I really hope that you've enjoyed this. I haven't written anything for so long and I tried to clump everything into this chapter! Please review and tell me how it was! I'm actually pretty weirded-out because I thought that I was going to end this at a different moment. But since this ended up being really long, I'll just put that into the next chapter! Stay tuned for more!  
>I'm open for any criticism! Please tell me what you didn't like so I can improve!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**konamiXkatya23:** Hello everyone!  
>Hehe, I'm so grateful to all of those people who liked my last chapter. Although there weren't too many reviews, I really appreciate the support! You don't know how much these little things mean to me!<p>

Anyway, I'm sorry for the long writer's block. I guess that I was too lazy to bring myself to write something... I hope you enjoy this new chapter, full of my craziness. By the way, the chapter starts out slowly, and gets more exciting towards the end!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; I only own my story and plot. Mashima is an evil genius and I bow down to him.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter four<strong>

**Gravity**

The girl lay still watching the sky.

Sunlight flooded the small area and the azure danced with colors. Shadows were cast on the clouds making them deep and mysterious in some way. In fact, if she wasn't in the middle of nowhere, she'd try to paint this phenomenon. But she was lying in the middle of a large plain, strands of grass caressing her feet.

Now, where was she?

Somehow she didn't feel the need to get up or move around. The girl was either tired or bound to the ground with invisible shackles. Either way, it didn't matter. She wasn't planning on getting up.

However the loud sigh behind her back was very noticeable. The blonde jumped with surprise, astounded by the fact that she hasn't noticed that person's presence.

"Lucy..." the voice murmured.

"No... Way..."

"My dear, look at you!"

"Mother?" the blonde spun around to find her mother sitting behind her.

"You've grown so much..." tears streamed down the woman's face.

"How?" the girl exclaimed while moving closer for a hug.

The two women held each other, not believing this occurrence. Longing this moment for years...

"You look troubled, Lucy", her mother's face showed concern.

The blonde didn't mind the fact that her mother was asking her these questions. She spoke clearly and got right to the point. "Dad is at it again! He doesn't care about anything other than his business! But away from him, I can't do anything! I'm a failure, always depending on someone! Look at me!" the girl shouted out, a light blush forming on her face. At the end, her voice snapped and she started sobbing lightly, her eyes shining with tears.

"You will always be Lady Lucy in my heart", the woman smiled as her daughter pulled away from her grasp.

"This is what I mean! So much is expected of me that I feel like I've accomplished nothing! And now that I've come to Fairy Ta-" the blonde stopped mid-sentence. Weird. Where did her winter camp go? Where was everyone?

Oh. This was probably all a dream. She should leave before she makes an idiot out of herself in her own mind.

"Lucy, listen", her mother grasped the girl's arm. "People are too self-conscious. Your status doesn't matter. That wasn't what I had meant. People always argue: is it 'what you do' that defines 'who you are' or 'who you are' defines 'what you do'.

But this is wrong. It's definitely not 'what you do', but it's the _way that you do it_. Never forget that. Don't lose faith, Lucy."

Lucy's eyes widened.

Stupid dream. Now it's got her all worked up. She knew that this was obviously a reverie on a cold night, but it felt like her heart was telling her what to do while her brain didn't cooperate.

Any second now.

"Ah", she exhaled as her eyes adjusted to the light of her room. The gorgeous sky was replaced by the dark ceiling as the girl felt lonely and broken once again. Her mother's false presence was gone; the comfort it gave her disappeared.

Not gone. Replaced.

Lucy felt a heartbeat right behind her. Something warm and alive made her neck tingle.

"Natsu..." the girl whispered.

"Oh dear, loving mother, I dreamt of you while this happened! Please forgive me! I messed up! This is not what it looks like!" the girl exclaimed, while the dark spots on her neck proved otherwise.

Natsu mumbled something in his sleep and one of his eyes opened. He flashed one of his famous grins. The boy lay still, face to face with Lucy.

"Baka!" she screamed as she flung him out of her bed. Luckily, he was fully dressed. Oh how Lucy wished that it hasn't gone _that _far last night.

"You have to get out of here! This is the girls' dorm! And we're the only ones in this room! That means that Levi has noticed us! Oh god, what if they kick me out? I'll be considered a ..." the girl's voice trailed off.

Natsu still sat on the floor, nonchalant to the blonde's chatter, rubbing his bruised head.

Predictably, Lucy gave him the death glare.

"Oi, oi, I get it! I'll get out of here!" the boy started opening the window.

"Don't ignore me! How are you going to make it? It's impossible to jump from this height!" her eyes carefully traced his movements.

"I'm not that weak Luce! I wouldn't have been in Fairy Tail if I couldn't jump from this tiny height!"

"It's three stories high, bak-" the boy launched himself out of the window. He flew gracefully, but barely broke his fall against a large pile of snow. Natsu grunted as his feet made contact, and Lucy almost expected to hear a popping sound. To her surprise, the boy stood up, and turned towards the window.

Natsu quickly made a snowball and launched it at Lucy's face playfully, and the blonde was too amazed by his earlier stunt to duck. Then he yelled a "see you at practice" and dashed off.

Lucy later realized that he held that snowball to his lips before chucking it at her.

~Later~

Breakfast passed painlessly, although the awkwardness with Erza and Levi's strange winks added to the pressure in the dinning hall. It was bad enough that her roommate knew, and now- the terrifying Erza Scarlet.

But practice took her mind off things.

This was much tougher than with Natsu, but she could feel her technique being worked on. Mirajane, seemed like an angel on the outside, during practice had a killer aura hanging around her. No one stayed still while she taught; they weren't allowed to take the smallest water breaks. Lucy gazed all around, but only got scolded by the demonic white-haired coach.

Only after lunch, she caught glimpses of his rosy hair. He was at the freestyle terrain, doing very amazing stunts.

The helicopter, jumps on the halfpipe, all of this in a very breath-taking manner. His board with little flame designs seemed to obey him, performing any trick stainlessly. The snow seemed to fly all around him, during his curves and during his decent, like millions of diamonds. It felt as if it wasn't a sport, but some form of art.

Nothing could stop him. He was going to get first place.

Lucy smiled as she moved out of the way after her ride on the ski lift. She strapped her board on, stretching and jumping towards the edge of the slope. Behind her, Mirajane ran around in frenzy, assigning everyone their exercises. The white-haired woman didn't make it to Lucy yet, who was still gazing at the freestyle terrain.

Several skiers did the helicopter and landed perfectly, almost on cue and in formation. After them came Natsu. He jumped his perfect 360 and landed behind the ski jump. Soon enough, he reappeared in midair again, executing his second jump.

There was something off. Something strange. Lucy felt it in the air, felt it hidden in the snow, disguised in the clouds. Some other kids who were watching the freestylers also froze.

Natsu lost his balance when his rosy hair flashed 5 feet up in the air. He disappeared behind the ski jump once again, but soon a large amount of snow exploded into the air from that side.

Then Lucy heard something that made her forehead breakout in cold sweat. She stared back in horror.

"Oh shi-"

The boy screamed.

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><p><strong>konamiXkatya23<strong>: And that's that. See, I told you that it's not half bad! Heheh, if you actually managed to read that (and you liked it) expect a new chapter in 1-2 weeks, or if it isn't released by then, it will be in June. Check my profile to see this story's status.

**Reviews anyone?**


	5. Chapter 5

**konamiXkatya23**: I like loitering...  
>No seriously, I promised you guys the beginning of June, but my writing block lasted all the way 'till now...<p>

Seriously, I need to keep writing this! Or the fact that I'm writing a winter story in the middle of the boiling summer would just look wrong. But who knows... Maybe I have gone a bit mad in these past months...

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. Everything belongs to the great Mashima except for my story and plot.

Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review! I'm sorry if any of the characters are a bit OCC.

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><p><strong>Chapter five<strong>  
><strong>The Fallen<strong>

You tumbled and fumbled and laughed  
>As you fell from the sky,<br>But who will be there to draft  
>Your long and forgotten war cry?<p>

And now, as you lay on the sand  
>Your face with no gesture of hope,<br>As shadows are cast on the land  
>Now, how will you cope?<p>

The whole world seemed to freeze for a split second.

Suddenly, the sun seemed to be giving off a dull shine while the vast sky showed nothing but loneliness. The sunlight fell on people's faces, many of them feeling that sudden chill while some stared with ignorant faces towards the direction of the noise. One girl decided not to waste any time. Her blond hair billowed in the wind as she instantly took off towards the direction of the loud cry.

Faster. Faster.

Probably, the only thing that kept her from flying was the snowboard attached to her feet and Earth's gravity.

Faster. Faster.

This was bad. It'd kill her to see the rosy haired boy with agony on his face.

Faster. Faster.

She had to help him! Or his scream will be carved into her memory forever.

Lucy made her way towards the boy. As soon as she saw Natsu, tears gathered at her eyes. The girl had never seen anyone get hurt before. Well, she's been through minor scrapes and scratches herself... But this...

The rosy haired boy lay at a very odd angle. His feet were tangled up together, mixed with snow and streaks of red. Somehow, his bolting gave in and let his feet slip out. It's hard to tell if this was good of bad, for things may have been much worse if his feet stayed glued to the snowboard.

"Natsu", Lucy gasped, carefully eyeing his injuries.

"Whoops... Haha, I slipped up..." Natsu failed to mask his pain as forehead rained cold sweat.

"How did this happen?"

"Well you know, I was going down the slope, and just as I started to ju-"

"No... Why did you become so careless?"

"They told me to hurry the hell up", Natsu shrugged. "So I did."

"You need to get help."

"No thanks, with that..." he cut himself off a second time. Now his face almost blended into the white snow. The boy's eyes stayed fixed at something in the distance.

Soon, that something arrived.

A whole clump of people surrounded the injured guy while the medical crew and a certain red head came closer.

"Natsu... We need to have a little talk..."

"Aye, Erza, how are you?" the boy shivered as he grinned.

"I'm great, thanks, but I see that a certain Natsu will not be getting dinner today. What is this mess? Explain." Erza almost yelled as her hair stood on its end.

"Aye. I don't like food anyway", sweat rolled down his face as his eyes mischievously looked away.

"Gray, come! Help carry him over to the medical sled!" the woman ordered as Gray jumped out of the crowd.

The black haired boy made a grossed-out face as he lifted the injured off the snow and both of them almost spat in each other's faces despite Natsu's pained expression. Gray threw him in the sled and was followed by Natsu's "asshole"'s and "icebrain"'s. The black haired boy then smirked, earning himself a punch to the gut from Erza. Natsu sat in the sled with Lucy, ordering the girl to throw more heavy objects at Gray.

It was almost as if everyone had forgotten about those bloody trails on the snow. The blonde girl was quite startled. Everyone reacted the same, scolding and punching the rosy haired boy on the shoulder. She wondered if they were just trying to take his mind off the pain, or if they were just ignoring the whole situation. But somehow, this atmosphere helped her too... She wouldn't have to notice the boy's pain or damaged body until they got to the emergency room.

Lucy didn't want to imagine what would happen next.

One furious Makarov waited for them at the hospital.

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><p><strong>konamiXkatya23<strong>: Short chapter, huh? Well please don't hate, I hope some of you can sympathize about how it feels to start writing again. I actually planned to make this more exciting, but then most of you would turn old before finishing the whole thing.

I will try to write faster, expect the next chapter somewhere around July 20th~

Hope that you've enjoyed that! Don't forget to review!


	6. Chapter 6

**konamiXkatya23:** Yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I have not committed suicide or have been eaten by a wild raccoon. Actually, I'm in Japan right now, riding on the Shinkansen, and I suddenly had enough inspiration to write something.  
>No comment on how late this update is. Happy New Year!<br>Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters but the story is solemnly mine.

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><p><strong>Chapter six<strong>

**When the Snow Falls** (part 1)

They've been riding in the ambulance for quite a while now. Siren blaring overhead, they flew into the town, the speed of the car slowly decreasing. However, even in this town, the car and the people inside of it were accompanied only by the setting sun and falling snow, and by the occasional crunch of it under the wheels. All of the residents were already home and sitting by the fire with their families, talking about the surprisingly normal day they had. In fact, even if you didn't belong to any of these families, a soft knock on their door would have you settled down by the fire with them, maybe with a cup of hot chocolate.

Lucy's bewildered appearance would not have earned her that. Neither would any part of her want it now.

_POV Lucy_

Maybe I'm no good after all. This whole mess is my fault. If I hadn't insisted snowboarding with Natsu, he could have gotten more practice, and with it, he would have made that jump.

Is it wrong that I don't want to be here right now, looking at his pained face? My legs ache to run away from here and start over.

But I'm here, with him. I guess even if did try to get away, I still wouldn't be able to escape.

I'm still at fault. I'm still hurting.

_End POV_

Earlier, when the couple arrived at the emergency room at campus, Natsu has still been blabbering about some nonsense and not showing any bit of pain. Typical of him, but not probably not true.

The doctor, Poluchka, stood aside, observing him. Lucy, who was still in the room, trying to keep Natsu down from jumping out of his bed, glanced at the woman. Now, if she had seen Dr. Poluchka somewhere in the crowd, she would have thought of her as an old woman who's sanity turned for the worse and her wish to practice dark magic suddenly rose, along with her age.  
>However, the woman showed signs of wisdom, and although she was quite rude and awfully quiet, her eyes sparkled with life. She was a great doctor, the blonde knew that for sure.<p>

"Hmmm... Fractured elbow... Broken ankle... Light concussion... Bad mental state, although that's quite normal for him..." the doctor mumbled out loud. "Will someone get him an ambulance? And I'd also love some room! Stop running around under my feet!"

Just as Lucy was thrown out the door, Makarov busted into the small white room.

"Natsu!" he exclaimed, slamming the door open.

"Makarov!" Natsu yelled back sarcastically with the same expression as the old man, earning him a loud slap to the back of the head, and an even louder rude remark from Poluchka.

"What happened? I heard that something had happened on the slope, but I thought that it was just another one of your scrambles with Gray... What happened?" The short man repeated the question again.

"I fell."

"Whadaya mean 'fell'?!" the man inquired.

Then, Lucy could hear no more. Only the beeping of the I.V. It got so quiet, that her stomach tensed up, and the girl thought that she could hear Makarov's ragged breathing coming from the other room.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Makarov walked off. The creases on his face suddenly looked deeper, and his frown drooped. He looked much older than his age. As he passed Lucy, he put a gentle hand on her knee and, without a word, walked on.

The Natsu the girl now saw through the open door was different. His fake smile that was plastered on his face was crumbling away, and his eyes suddenly showed something new.

Lifelessness.

Lucy didn't know this person. This person was dead, a living corpse. Not Natsu, not her friend. The one in the room wasn't from Fairy Tail, didn't have any happiness inside of him. He was someone distant, whose life has eaten away at him, and left nothing but a gaping hole where his heart was.

~Later~

Natsu has slept throughout the rest of the day, even when he was moved into the town hospital. Lucy quietly stood by his side, and couldn't wash the scene out of her memory.

Some people came by and stopped and talked to her. Erza, Grey and Levi, who sat with her the longest, talking about this and that. The blonde wasn't even sure if they came on their own, or if Makarov sent them down. Either way, it calmed her down, and somewhere around midnight she fell asleep in the waiting room, covered by a small fleece blanket. The hospital staff let her stay there as they all left after their department closes for the night.

Sometime, a couple of hours later (Lucy wasn't sure, because the ticking of the clock meant nothing to her through the barrier of her reverie), the girl opened her eyes after hearing some shuffling in the dim hallway. As her eyes adjusted, she saw a figure walking towards her. For some reason, or maybe her eyes had decided to give in, the person seemed to have three legs.

As Lucy kept rubbing her eyes, she started scooting away from the strange figure. As a child with too much time, she had seen more than enough horror and thriller movies, and a hospital at night probably made a perfect setting for one of these. The girl could already see it on the front page of the newspaper: 'girl missing' or 'hospital kidnapping' or 'hospital murde-'.  
>Being as paranoid as she was, Lucy decided to crawl away from the sound of the footsteps. But they didn't stop. Whatever it was, it was coming towards her at a steady pace, and if she stayed there, she was sure to be discovered.<p>

The girl tumbled from the hospital chair onto the floor, and got up. Now, she really hoped that the darkness would be in her favor. The only option left was making a run for it.

The blonde first walked in the shadows, casually ducking from the vague illumination of the corridor. Then, she started running when she saw that the figure was still closing in on her. Although the figure was slower than the girl, and Lucy was not sure if it had seen her yet, the girl didn't stay low. Huffing like a madman, she ran straight, hoping to see a turn or an exit. Neither was to be found.

Then, all hell broke lose when Lucy heard the word "wait".

She ran, and tripped, and fell, and got back up, and ran, but her scabbed leg protested. She fell again, and glanced over her shoulder only to see "it" within a couple of meters of herself. There was only one thing left to do.

Lucy closed her eyes and screamed.

"No-"

"Wait-"

"Hey!-"

As the girl slowly looked up a crutch came into view... And a body... Well build, and all too similar... Then the face must have been...

"Oh?...Natsu?... I'm sorry!..." the girl burst out in tears of joy.

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><p><strong>konamiXkatya23<strong>: Now... Some questions to pounder: What is Natsu doing out in the hallway? Why is Lucy such a chicken? Where the hell is Happy?

Don't forget to review!

If you liked this chapter, add the story to favorites and alerts. Just in case, any extra information about the next update should be on my profile! Bye bye~ I hope you enjoyed it!


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